Fist of Bidhuri: Gaurav 'hooks' self doubts to win World medal

Hamburg, Aug 30 (PTI) Confidence bruised by near-misses
and a nagging back injury -- this is what Gaurav Bidhuri
carried into the World Boxing Championships here before his
career got a new lease of life by the lone medal he assured
for India.

The 24-year-old was not even meant to be in the team till
the second half of July which is when fortune smiled on him
and he was handed a wildcard entry by the Asian Boxing
Confederation (ASBC).

"When I got to know that I have got a wildcard entry, I
went around confirming it with every coach, I kept asking 'is
this right?' I asked each one of them. I asked everyone and
only after each one of them said that I have made it, I
finally eased up a bit," the relief was palpable as Gaurav
spoke to PTI during an interview after the bout.

The Delhi-boxer has never been among the most talked
about in Indian circuit and has been prone to making
quarterfinal exits in almost every tournament he was picked
for.

The most recent of these quarterfinal exits happened in
the Asian Championships in Tashkent earlier this year, where
he twice missed the chance to qualify directly for the world
showpiece.

"I have nearly always lost in the quarterfinal stage of
every tournament that I have competed in. Here also, once I
reached quarters, I was having these negative thoughts that
'may be again the same thing will happen, I will lose, that I
am not good enough'. But then another part of me was also
telling me to break this jinx," he spoke about how he sparred
with creeping self doubts.

Asked how he steeled up for competing despite his
seemingly volatile mind, Gaurav conceded it wasn't easy to
shake off negativity.

"It is the toughest part of being an athlete, to control
the mind. I was having all kinds of thoughts. All of them were
not negative but then not every thought was positive too.
There was a lot of noise in my mind, something which only I
could hear," smiled the youngster.

And now, Gaurav might become the first Indian boxer to
win a medal better than bronze at the prestigious
championships should he go on to win his semi-final on
Thursday.

"I have been battling a lot injuries but did not care
about them. I have had severe back problems for the last
seven-eight months but I did not care about that and have been
training relentlessly and finally I have won a medal," Gaurav
said.

Gaurav will fight his bantamweight (56kg) semifinal bout
against American Duke Ragan tomorrow.

By advancing to the last-four stage, he joined Vijender
Singh (2009), Vikas Krishan (2011) and Shiva Thapa (2015) in a
select band of Indian boxers to have finished on the podium at
the biennial mega-event.

Tomorrow, he wants to go a step ahead of Vijender, Vikas
and Shiva and make the final to ensure that India finishes
with a medal better than bronze.

He said it would also help him get closure for all the
near misses of the past, which also includes a quarterfinal
exit from an Olympic qualifying event last year.

This, despite the fact that he had been in good form
coming into the tournament. He had won a gold medal at an
invitational tournament in Czech Republic in July but was
still a long way off from being even considered a top medal
contender here.

However, his prequarterfinal win over Ukraine's Mykola
Butsenko, a two-time European Championships' silver-medallist
and 2013 world championship bronze-winner, brought him into
focus.

He is ready to fight pain as he would like to add a
different colour to his medal.

"I am suffering actually. I can't sit for too long and
can't even sleep for too long. I have trouble walking as well
but it's all worth it now," the Delhi lad said.